Who checks the signing partner's IRBA registration

In South Africa, Achekam checks the Partner role at signing, not IRBA registration. What the badge and credentials register do, and the control to add.

By Achekam · 11 October 2026 · 4 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in South Africa

The short answer, for a South African firm using Achekam, is that your firm does. Achekam checks that the person signing holds the Partner role in your workspace. It does not check that the person is a registered auditor with IRBA, and it does not consult its own register of practitioner credentials when an audit report is approved or a set of statements is signed.

That is worth knowing precisely, because the signing screen carries an "IRBA" badge, and a badge on a screen is easy to read as a check that has been done. This article explains what the badge is, what Achekam records and enforces, where the gaps are, and the control a firm should put around them.

The badge is a label

IRBA regulates auditors in South Africa, so it is natural for the signing screen to name it. On FINANCIALS STUDIO > Partner Review & Signing, the "IRBA" badge is a label only. The regulator field behind it is free text that the firm types. For a South African firm, what Achekam actually checks at that point is the signer's partner role.

Nothing on that screen consults IRBA, and nothing there confirms that a registration is current.

What Achekam does enforce

The controls that do run at signing are about roles and separation, not registration:

• each set of statements names a preparer, a reviewer and an engagement partner;
• only a user with a partner role can sign;
• the person recorded as preparer or reviewer cannot issue the set;
• on the audit side, only the engagement partner approves the auditor's report.

When a partner signs the firm's financial statements in the Partner Signing Cockpit, the signature is bound to that version's content hash, so a later change to the set is visible as a different version. The cockpit asks the partner to confirm acceptance and independence outside Achekam. That is a prompt to the partner, not a check performed by the system.

The practitioner credentials register

Achekam does keep a register of who holds which credentials. Under TEAM > Practitioner Credentials, a partner, manager or administrator records each practitioner's professional body, their membership standing with the date it was verified, and their practising authority, together with evidence. A credential that someone recorded about themself is flagged, so a self-declared registration stands out from one a colleague verified.

Used properly, this register is the firm's record of who is a registered auditor, who is a member of which body and when somebody last looked. It is only as good as the discipline behind it: the dates show how stale an entry has become, and the evidence shows what was actually seen.

Where the register is not consulted

For a South African firm, Achekam does not check this register when a partner approves an audit report or signs financial statements. Signing needs only the Partner role. A partner whose registration lapsed last month, or who never held one, can sign if the workspace gives them that role.

The same pattern appears in the independent review and audit exchange, where a set is sent to another firm. There, an audit report needs a partner whom the listing firm records as an IRBA registered auditor, and Achekam does not check that record with IRBA.

Two related limits sit close by. Achekam has no way to approve an independence declaration, so every declaration stays awaiting the quality partner, and assigning someone to an engagement does not check the independence register.

The contrast with Achekam's other country packs is instructive. Nigerian and Kenyan packs block signing on unverified registrations. The South African behaviour is the gap, not the design everywhere.

A control to put in place

If your firm gives the Partner role to people who are not registered auditors, for example partners who sign only compilations or independent reviews, then the role alone cannot tell you who may sign an audit report. Even where every partner is registered, registrations lapse and get renewed, and the system will not notice.

A workable firm-level control looks like this:

1. Keep the register current. Record each registered auditor's IRBA registration in Practitioner Credentials with the date verified and evidence, and have a colleague verify entries rather than the practitioner themself. IRBA's Find a RA search lets anyone find or verify a registered auditor or audit firm by surname, IRBA number or area.
2. Reconcile roles to the register. At least at the start of each busy season, compare the list of Partner role holders with the register and note who may sign which kind of report.
3. Add a pre-signing step to the audit file. Before the engagement partner approves an audit report, have the manager or the quality reviewer confirm the partner's registration from the register and record that confirmation on the file.
4. Treat flags as work. A self-recorded credential, or one whose verification date is old, should be verified before that person signs anything that needs it.
5. Cover independence by hand. Since declarations cannot be approved in Achekam, keep the quality partner's approval somewhere the inspection can see it.

The next review of your partner list

Pull the list of people who hold the Partner role in your workspace and set it against the credentials register this week, before the next audit report is approved. Then decide who on each audit confirms registration before sign-off. For the step that comes before all of this, deciding whether the client needs an audit at all, see when a South African company must be audited; for how a registration block works where Achekam does enforce one, see the FRC firms register and signing a Nigerian audit.

General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.